Cart

Trunk for Eldritch Horror

General Instructions

Remove the white paper masking from all pieces.

Where there are letters on the edge of your pieces, you can assemble them so that the letters are hidden inside the joint.

I use common white glue, Elmer’s Glue-All. Wood glue is stronger, but I actually prefer white glue, because if a piece is dropped and breaks, it’ll break cleanly at the joints rather than ripping part of the wood off.

I like to assemble pieces by pushing their joints together, running a line of glue along the joint, then folding them up so the glue is spread inside the joint.

If something isn’t working, double-check that you have the correct pieces. Most of the pieces can only be assembled one way.

Click on a picture to view it larger.

1) Lower Card Trays

You’ll create four identical trays for large cards. These are comprised of a large base, two ‘A’ walls, and two ‘B’ end pieces.

Each tray has five slots for dividers. You can leave these loose to adjust later. These dividers are primarily so that you can change the size of these card slots and keep your cards from falling over; you may still want to use paper or plastic card dividers to further separate your decks.

2) Upper Card Trays

Basically the same, with a smaller base and pieces J and K. Like the larger trays, the dividers are primarily to keep your cards from falling over, and I recommend you use additional thin dividers as desired.

3) Trays

The long token tray is sides F, end caps E, and dividers G. Double-check that the tabs on the walls align with the tabs on the base plate – I’ve installed these backwards by accident before.

The clue tray is sides C and D.

The Epic Monster tray is sides X and Z, and the Gate Tokens are sides X and Y. Note that these both use side X; they’re interchangeable.

4) Monster Cup

The Monster Cup uses sides Q and R. There’s also a lid with ‘Monster Cup’ written on it; this should not be glued into place. It’s designed so that, if desired, you can put the lid on and shake it up.

To protect your chits during that shaking, you’ve been provided with foam sheets that can be glued to all six sides of the cup. You may have received a sheet with a white sticker on it; these are really annoying to remove cleanly and I never bother. Just glue the sticker side to the wall.

5) More Trays

Investigator Tokens uses sides H and I.

The dice/token tray uses sides O and P, as well as an unmarked center divider.

The Investigator/Ancient One sheet tray uses sides L, M, and N. Note that M and N are thicker pieces than the rest, and will be a darker color just like the pieces for the inside of the box. The thicker pieces provide a better fit for your sheets.

There’s a rectangular piece marked ‘Ancient Ones.’ The intent is that you will stack your Ancient One sheets in this tray, then place this divider on top, then stack your Investigator sheets.

6) Bonus Bits

The Ancient One stand uses pieces 1-7, and I recommend you assemble them in that order. Piece 2 is somewhat fragile, and you should ensure you have the low scoop on the left side (for the Mysteries).

Two identical card trays are assembled from a wide base and pieces S,T,U,V and W. I recommend assembling in alphabetical order.

You have 8 thin pieces and 8 thicker pieces for the board spacers. These fill up space while we wait for more expansion boards. Assemble each set of 8 into a grid, as shown in the image.

You also have two large blank nameplates, one small blank nameplate, one Elder Sign token and one nameplate with information about Lyris Laser Studio. I’d appreciate your gluing that one on, but you can put in on the bottom, that’s fine. I apologize that I can’t engrave the game’s logo on the nameplates, but I invite you to customize them on your own.

The Elder Sign token is solely because I had one square inch of extra space. Do what you like with it!

7) Care and Use

Once fully assembled, the trunk fits together with only a fraction of an inch to spare. Add spacers on the left side until everything feels secure when you close the lid. You can store your game on its side, or put it in your car or game bag, and nothing will fall out of place.

Of course, you can also carry the trunk by the handle. Just be careful and use common sense; with all the expansions, you’ve loaded 10-20 pounds of components into this box, and it’s only held shut by two latches. I’ve never had an issue with the strength of the trunk, but I do recommend you check your latches, screws, leather, and rivets occasionally for looseness or fatigue.

Box Modifications [Archive]

I used to ask you to glue in new box walls and elastic straps, but nowadays I do that for you before I ship you the DIY kit. I saved the instructions here, in case you have any trouble with those parts and want some advice.

Elastic Straps for Rules

The black elastic you have is designed to be attached to the inside of the lid to hold your rules.

Your rules will be held on the left side of the lid, not centered. This is important. Your rulebooks will actually act as a seal that holds your cards and tokens in place, and there is space for that in the box. If the rules are centered, the box will be unable to close neatly.

I’ve had good results with cyanoacrylate glue (Super Glue, Krazy Glue, etc). Put a small amount on one end of the elastic and hold it in place. It can remain liquid for an annoyingly long time, but after about a minute it’ll grip permanently. Then pull out the elastic so it’s taut but not stretched, and glue the other side.

I usually put one strap one-quarter of the way up the lid, and the second strap halfway up the lid. It might seem more natural to glue them 1/3 and 2/3 up, but then you have to bend the rules (ha, ha) to get them to fit.

Trunk Inserts

First, place the three long, thin dividers in the trunk.

Second, place the long front and rear walls into the trunk. These are marked with an arrow pointing up. You can hide that arrow against the trunk wall when you glue these into place.

What I find works best is to press the front and rear walls together in the middle of the trunk, insert the thin dividers into the slots in the walls, then slide those walls apart and glue them to the front and back of the box.

Once that’s done, the two pieces marked ‘Side Wall’ can be glued into place.